This book analyses the development of hospitality education from vocational to higher education
and discusses the positioning of hotel schools. It addresses questions such as: Should
hospitality management become part of generic business education? Are the technical training
programmes that have defined the identity of these schools a remnant of their vocational past
or have they contributed to the successful careers of many hospitality graduates? Topics
discussed in the book are curriculum innovation the theory of experimentation the nature of
hospitable behaviour information technology life-long learning and developments for future
curricula. The book makes clear that the debate on the balance between theory and practice will
not only define the future of hospitality management education but can also be considered a
relevant case study in other business disciplines. The history of hospitality education goes
back to the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century when hotel schools were founded
to train the protocol and technical skills required to receive the travellers of those days.
Since then the scale and complexity of the hospitality industry and its professions have
changed as well as our understanding of what makes a business -whether it offers accommodation
or something else- hospitable. The scope and educational level of hotel schools have evolved
accordingly and hospitality management has become a popular discipline in the traditional and
renowned hotel schools as well as in universities.
